


Find You

by Slashisproblematic



Series: Find You [1]
Category: Guns N' Roses, Mötley Crüe
Genre: Kissing, M/M, Modern AU, Starting relationship, axl is 23 while nikki is in his fifties, middle aged Nikki with younger Axl
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-27
Updated: 2019-06-27
Packaged: 2020-05-20 15:42:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,449
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19379734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Slashisproblematic/pseuds/Slashisproblematic
Summary: Axl is trying to live through his shift at the bar when an aging rock star comes in.





	Find You

Axl decided that he was going to kill his boss. He only worked at the bar for three months, but that asshole already decided that Axl was fit enough to run the whole bar, alone, while he ran off to fuck his mistress. 

And normally Axl liked this job. Sure, the tips were shit, but Axl will take that over his last job at a so-called ‘family friendly’ restaurant. But dealing with the Friday night rush reminded Axl that it was only a matter of time before his temper got him fired… again. If Axl’s boss left him to work a weekend night alone again, that just might happen. 

By three in the morning, the worst of the crowd had moved on, leaving Axl exhausted and strained. He disregarded taking this new-found quiet to clean or do any of the tasks his shithead boss wrote down in favor of leaning against the counter and letting his head enter a sort of meditative state, trying to will away the stress-induced headache. 

In the middle of debating on whether or not he should sneak a shot of whiskey, Axl heard the door creak open and someone waltz inside. He closed his eyes, wondering why he couldn’t just have a few moments to himself before he turned to face the new customer. 

A tall, older man made his way to the bar and sat down. He didn’t seem to be bothered about the sticky mess left from the rush that Axl hadn’t bothered to clean up yet. His hair was held back with a blue bandana, and teased up in black spikes that stuck out in different directions. Both his hair and his beard looked unnaturally dark black, like they were both dyed. Combined with the sunglasses he wore, indoors, in the middle of the night, it made it impossible to discern the guy’s actual age. 

“What can I get for you?” Axl asked, flatly. One of the better aspects about working in a bar was that no one cared if the person serving them didn’t bother to put on a happy face. 

The man scratched at his beard for a moment before answering. 

“Bartender’s choice,” he replied. Axl merely shrugged and grabbed the whiskey he planned to sneak a drink from before pouring it into a glass with ice. 

Axl set it in front of the man, who smirked in amusement.

“Nothing too fancy, huh?” He picked up the small glass and took a gentle sip. His hand looked weathered and his fingers were adorned with several sturdy rings. Tattoos decorated the back of his hand. The man’s whole appearance gave Axl the vibe of an aging rock star.

Axl stashed the bottle back under the counter before asking, “Are you opening a tab tonight?” Axl really hoped not, since the bar would be closing in just an hour. 

The man shook his head. “No, I think this will be my only drink for tonight.” 

Axl went about his closing duties, largely ignoring the guy. He still sat there, seemingly brooding, but he barely touched the whiskey. Axl wondered what was going on with him. At his age, probably a divorce or something.

After about thirty minutes, the guy leaned back from the bar and looked at Axl.

“I think I’ll buy a second drink for you,” he said. 

Axl scrunched his eyebrows and scrutinized him. He’s worked here for only three months, but lost count of the number of times that people offered to buy him a drink while he worked. Not even the first time it was someone old enough to be Axl’s parent. But this guy didn’t set off the usual alarm bells in Axl’s head. Even without the salacious comments and groping, Axl could tell when they just wanted to get him drunk with the hopes of taking him home after work. 

But this guy just seemed… lonely. Definitely a feeling Axl could relate to.

“Unless drinking on the job is a big no-no,” the guy continued, giving Axl an out if he wanted.

Axl responded with a derisive snort. “My boss ain’t here.” Why not take a chance? He felt like he could spend time with this old rocker and not wind up dead in a ditch. 

Deciding that Tracii could pick up the slack the next day, Axl rushed through the rest of his tasks and sat down next to the man with his own glass of whiskey. The guy still barely touched his own drink. The ice cubes were mostly melted and the condensation soaked into the coaster.

“I’m Nikki, by the way,” the man said as Axl sat. Kind of weird for a middle aged guy to be going by a gender-neutral nickname, though Axl wasn’t one to talk about nicknames.

“Axl,” he responded with a nod. He took the glass of whiskey and downed half of it in one go. 

“So what do you like to do, Axl?” Nikki asked. He finally took off his sunglasses and placed them on top of his head so that they sat on his bandana. He had cool green eyes, not dissimilar to Axl's own. 

That was a loaded question. People around Nikki's age tended to be a bit dismissive of Axl's life goal. 

Axl looked over Nikki again. He wore a crisp, white shirt underneath an expensive looking suit jacket. The shirt had a couple of buttons undone, revealing a tattoo of a red star. Going just by the tattoos on his chest and hands, Axl knew he was inked all across his shoulders and down his arms. He had to admit the image it put in his head was pretty hot.

In any case, Axl judged that Nikki wouldn’t scoff and tell him to focus on getting a real career. 

“I’m in a band,” Axl said. “We play shows down the strip and we’re working on getting a record deal.” Like there’s anything else they could do. 

Nikki’s eyes lit up and Axl knew he was spot on about his aging rocker analysis. 

“Really?" Nikki sounded like Axl gave him a pleasant surprise. "You can only be the singer.” 

“How’d you guess?”

“The red hair. You always want your flashiest guy in front.”

Axl smirked slightly. It was nice talking with someone about his musical aspirations without being waved off with a condescending ‘oh, good luck with that.’ 

“So what do you play?” Axl asked.

Nikki shrugged slightly, either not phased or not caring that he was easily read. “I played the bass. That was a while back, though.”

He looked forlorn, and turned his gaze to the wall behind the bar. Part of Axl knew he shouldn't pry, but he couldn’t stop his curiosity.

“What happened there?” he asked.

“Well, you know. We had it good for a while, but good things come to an end. Especially when somebody decides that you can’t make them money anymore.” He regarded his still nearly full glass for a moment before pushing it to the side. “I’m not trying to discourage you or anything. I’m happy that there are still kids following that same dream.”

Axl wrinkled his nose a bit at the ‘kids’ moniker and drank the rest of the whiskey, swallowing against the burn in his throat. 

“Not like we don’t know what we’re getting into,” he retorted. “Everyone from Bon Scott to Roger Waters write songs about how business people will screw you over.” 

Nikki gave a more genuine smile this time, almost looking like pride? A little weird, since they only knew each other for less than an hour. 

“What kind of music do you play?” Nikki then asked. 

“We consider ourselves a rock and roll group. But people call us more metal. Like those hair bands from the eighties.” 

Nikki snorted and laughed, but it didn’t seem to be at Axl’s expense.

“Is that what you played?” Axl asked.

“Well, we called it glam metal back in the day,” Nikki replied, smiling completely now. Axl looked over again and figured that he must at least be in his fifties, if he was a part of the metal scene in the eighties. Axl guessed that Nikki was late forties at the oldest.

“Yeah, we were one of the biggest glam metal bands from Sunset. But then, you know, grunge happened.” Nikki said it with a shrug, making it seem like he didn’t harbor any ill will for another genre of music overtaking his own. Still, Axl couldn’t help but feel a tad guilty for loving Nirvana. Even if Duff continually insisted that Kurt Cobain would’ve hated his guts.

“You should come check us out,” Axl said. A shameless self-promotion, but if Nikki really was a rock and roll veteran, he’d know that was part of the game.

“It’s been a while since I’ve been to a show,” Nikki said thoughtfully. “Aw, fuck it. I’d love to go. I’m sure you guys are kick-ass.”

Axl didn’t even consider this a networking opportunity, like Duff might. Nikki just seemed really chill and likable, not to mention hot. And it’s not like he knew whether or not Nikki still had connections to the industry.

“Are you closing up here soon?” Nikki asked. The last of the other patrons had left without Axl noticing, thankfully. At least he didn't have to waste time throwing idiot drunks out and calling Ubers for them. 

The redhead quickly took out his phone and checked the time. “Yeah, in about ten minutes,” Axl said. “Maybe now, once I count and lock up the money.”

“Do you have a ride back home?”

Again, coming from anyone else, Axl might toss their drink in their face and run from the hills. He hoped he could trust his gut on this.

“No, I walk,” Axl replied. Between him and the four other guys he lived with, they shared one truck, Izzy’s. But Duff got first dibs on that since his job was further into the city.

“Doesn’t seem like a great area,” Nikki replied. “Do you mind if I drive you?”

Axl shrugged. “I can take care of myself.”

“Oh, I’m sure,” Nikki said with a smirk. “Maybe on the way we can exchange stories about growing up in rough neighborhoods.”

Axl hoped that he reared his instincts well enough that he could trust his gut. Ironically, it worried him that he didn’t have any bad feelings about the black-haired former rock star. How many times had the redhead worried he rebuffed perfectly nice people due to being paranoid, only to not feel any of those feelings towards this practical stranger?

“All right,” Axl agreed. “Would you be okay waiting outside while I locked up?”

After locking up the bar five minutes early, Axl found Nikki out in the parking lot, leaning against a car so nice Axl wondered how it didn’t wind up stripped for parts and left balancing on concrete blocks.  
Nikki wordlessly opened the passenger side door and let Axl in before walking around to the driver’s side. He wondered how the guys would react to seeing him ride in a car like this. Maybe not that impressed, since it wasn't vintage, but brand new. 

Nikki slid into the driver's seat and shut the door. He didn’t even use a key, he pressed a button where the ignition should be and the car roared to life.

“Where to?” Nikki asked. Axl gave him the directions to the hell house, which wasn’t too far from the bar. A good thing for walking, but Axl kind of wanted this ride to last a little longer. His work apron sat tightly wrapped up on his lap, and he began to dig to the pockets for a pen and a discarded receipt. If he’s taking this risk, he might as well go all the way. 

They chatted aimlessly until Nikki pulled up to the hell house too soon. A five minute drive felt like two. 

Axl felt all too aware about the rundown state of the house and wondered if he should have asked Nikki to park a little further down the street. But Axl was a twenty-three year old aspiring rock star, Nikki probably knew that Axl didn’t have anything impressive to his name. Yet. 

Neither of them moved for a brief moment, and Nikki furrowed his eyebrow in thought. He turned to Axl.

“Do you mind if I give you a bit of advice?” Nikki asked. “It might feel like you’re invincible, especially when you’re making it and it feels like you’re on top of the world. But-” Nikki made like he was going to reach out for Axl’s face before pulling his hand back. “Um, take care of yourself. Seriously.”

Axl tilted his head a bit, like that would help him see Nikki in a new light, to see whatever was in his past that brought that out. Somehow, he doubted Nikki was willing to give him his life story so soon.

In a bold move, Axl slid closer to Nikki before putting his hand on the back of the older man’s neck and pulling him in for a kiss. Nikki’s exclamation was muffled, but he didn’t pull away. He slowly melted into the kiss before placing a tentative hand on Axl’s shoulder.

Axl shouldn’t be so turned on just from a kiss, but here he was. Maybe it was the more taboo aspect of it. Everyone says to respect one’s elders, but here he was making out with a man old enough to be his dad in a car like they were horny teenagers, and not to mention Axl entertaining the thought of moving further south and giving Nikki a blowjob right there.

But he pulled away and held Nikki’s eyes with his own. He smirked.

“Thanks for the drink,” Axl said. He slipped the scrap of paper with his number on it to Nikki before getting out of the car and walking up to the front door. He opened the door and took a moment to look back at the sleek car. He couldn’t see Nikki in the faded light of the approaching morning, but the car sat there for a moment before slowly driving off.

The redhead sighed. He hoped something might come of this. Maybe it would just be a brief fling. Maybe Nikki would throw away the paper, wondering why that kid wanted to make out with him when he was just trying to be nice and offer him a ride. 

Axl went to bed and woke up around noon, and he had his answer. His phone told him he had a new text message from a new number, that simply said, “Hey there, it’s Nikki ;)”


End file.
